


Eight Phases of Video Games

by Siderea



Series: Green Grow the Rushes [5]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Alternate Universe - Amnesia: Memories Fusion, Alternate Universe - Carmen Sandiego Fusion, Alternate Universe - Devil Survivor Fusion, Alternate Universe - Dragon Age Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fall Out Four Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fire Emblem Fusion, Alternate Universe - Luminous Arc Fusion, Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Alternate Universe - Video Game AU, Gen, Tags will be updated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-08-19 11:05:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8203426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siderea/pseuds/Siderea
Summary: Eight video game AUs featuring the characters of Deep Space Nine. No knowledge of the games should be necessary, although familiarity might deepen your appreciation and knowledge of the DS9 characters is encouraged. Each chapter will have its own summary and tags will update with each chapter.Fifth: PokemonSixth: Carmen SandiegoSeventh: Luminous ArcEighth: SMT: Devil Survivor





	1. Dragon Age:Origins: A Night at Camp

**Author's Note:**

> Part five in my DS9 AU series. For those just reading this story, each work in this series will have a different theme for the AUs involved and might stretch the definition of 'alternate universe'. The idea originated, insofar as I know, in the Teen Wolf fandom, although I have changed a lot of it, as well as going beyond the nine or ten steps that were floating around three or more years ago.
> 
> This one focuses on video game fusions and will eventually contain eight chapters. The title is a play on eight phases of the moon.
> 
> For anyone following along, apologies for the delayed time between the end of the last part and this one, but it's been a crazy month/2 months.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A night at camp for Gray Warden Benjamin Sisko and his allies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Dragon Age: Origins.

Benjamin Sisko, the last Gray Warden in all of Ferelden, looked around the camp at the allies he had managed to pick up during the last month.  They were admittedly a bit of a rag-tag bunch, and there were a lot of frictions between some members, but at least they weren’t at each other’s throats.  And if they didn’t seem like they could take on Dukat any time soon – never mind the Darkspawn – well, they had allies, and some of them in the unlikeliest of places thanks to the Grey Warden Treaties.

 

“Surveying your troops one last time for the day, Warden?”

 

Ben glanced over, unsurprised to see that Julian had once again approached him.  The former lay brother was perhaps the friendliest of the group, and often the first to approach him when they stopped at night.  Rather than respond directly, he said, “You never did tell me what brought someone like you to the Chantry.”

 

Julian blinked at him, clearly a bit rattled, but he recovered admirably quickly.  “I needed shelter from a storm – a physical one.  And, to my surprise, I found the place peaceful.  It was certainly a change from being a traveling minstrel.  A nice one, actually.  If I hadn’t had that vision, I probably never would have left.”  He looked a bit wistful before shaking off the mood.  “Done is done, and I’m glad to be along, assisting you as best as I can.”

 

And that assistance had been useful and varied, Ben had to admit.  “I appreciate your efforts,” he said.

 

Julian smiled, nodded, and stepped back, leaving Ben to some peace and proving once again how adept he was at reading people’s moods.  To Ben’s surprise, however, Julian didn’t move to join either Jadzia or Miles but instead drifted over to Garak.

 

“That could be trouble,” Kira said from behind him, and Ben fought not to jump.  He hadn’t heard the swamp witch’s approach.  He rarely did.  It was probably a good thing she seemed to find something worthy of respect in him or she likely would have killed him by now.

 

“It would have been more trouble not to bring the assassin along,” Ben argued, not for the first time.  Garak had indeed proven useful, foiling several other attempts by the Obsidian Order to assassinate Ferelden’s last Gray Warden.  He could not, unfortunately, pick locks, but Julian could, and Garak remained the best at spotting and disarming traps.  Sometimes he rearmed them behind the group, and that had saved them from rear ambush enough that Ben would defend the man’s presence.

 

“Maybe,” Kira allowed.  “But I don’t like Julian’s fascination with him.”

 

“They both work in shadows,” Ben said.  “It makes sense that they would find each other to be understanding of what their work requires.”

 

Kira looked at him strangely.  “Julian was a priest of your Chantry.  What is shadowy about that?”

 

Ben reminded himself that for all Kira’s knowledge and cynicism, she had led an incredibly isolated life in the Korcari Wilds and it shouldn’t surprise him when she sometimes couldn’t read between the lines of what people said.  She had no knowledge about what they referred to, after all, no way to fit it into the world that she had experienced.  So he was careful to not come across as patronizing.

 

“Julian was a Bard, Kira.  That means he was a spy for a very specific patron, possibly even an assassin for that person when that was called for.  They are an Orlesian order, but I heard about them while in the Wardens.  Whatever twist of fate brought Julian from the life of a Bard to the life of a lay brother in the Chantry – not a priest – it doesn’t change the fact that he lived a life remarkably similar to Garak’s at one point.”

 

Kira blinked at him, turned her gaze back to the two assassins, and then turned back to Ben.  “Civilized customs are ridiculous,” she informed him.

 

“Why do you think I jumped at the chance to become a Grey Warden?” he asked, amused.  “Come.  I think Jadzia’s finished cooking dinner.”  To his pleasure, she actually accompanied him over to the others.  _Maybe we’ll all manage to pull together, after all.  Dukat and the Archdemon had better look out._


	2. Fall Out Four: The Search

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keiko O'Brien _will_ find her daughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crossover with Fall Out Four.  
> Confession time: I have not actually played this game personally.

Keiko O’Brien reloaded her gun, chambered the first round, and then holstered it.  She stood, brushing black hair away from her face, and stared out across the landscape.  It had been two months since she’d awoken in Vault 111, and still she couldn’t believe what had happened to the world during her two-hundred-and-ten-year slumber.  Everything had changed, from the flora to the way people lived, and she still couldn’t quite get a handle on it all.

 

“Set, O’Brien?”

 

She turned back to face Paladin Garak of the Brotherhood of Steel.  A mouthful name for an organization she still didn’t completely understand.  It seemed vaguely militaristic, and yet, at the same time, almost like a fantasy-novel assassin’s guild.  More proof that she was a woman out of time.  “Set,” she said.  Then, because it was important, she added, “Remember that I need this man alive, Garak.”  This was the only lead she had to Molly, and she wasn’t going to lose it because the man got trigger-happy.

 

He offered her that mockingly polite smile that never seemed far from his lips.  “Of course,” he promised, practically oozing charisma and charm.  Just like a used car salesman.  Although, they didn’t have those anymore, at least as far as she could tell, so she’d have to find a different idiom.  God above, she had to find a lot of different idioms considering just how much everything had changed over the past two centuries.  “This way.”

 

Keiko followed the man down towards the small settlement, one hand resting on the butt of her gun, eyes constantly scanning the horizon for trouble.  _Hold on, Molly.  Mommy’s coming._


	3. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn: Scouting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kira Nerys and Odo, of the Bajor Liberation Army, scout a prisoner camp with the aim of freeing its inhabitants from the Cardassians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Kira Nerys wiped sweat from her forehead before it could drip into her eyes, then peered again at the prisoner camp.  “It’s a light detachment,” she said thoughtfully.  “Easy enough for us to take with our current numbers, and we should be able to manage it quickly enough to prevent them from using our people as hostages.”

 

“An easy victory.  Exactly as you predicted,” Odo said.

 

Nerys glanced at her best friend, then looked back out at the camp.  His belief in her powers had always made her uncomfortable but it was worse now that she had become the liberation’s talisman.  Too many other people knew about her powers and relied upon them.  Perversely, it made her trust them less, drove her to greater preparations, more detailed scouting, and back up plans upon back up plans just in case her visions led them wrong.

 

Linking up with Prince Bareil Antos’s liberation army had been the best decision for the Dawn Brigade, the best way for them to strike back at Cardassia’s occupying forces, but being thrust into the spotlight was exhausting, exhilarating and dangerous.  Nerys felt like she had to watch herself more, like it was up to her to keep General Shakaar and Advisor Wynn from over-reliance on her fabled visions.

 

Nerys led Odo off the cliff and back down to the waiting squads.  “We’ll swing around and approach from the north,” she announced.  “The brush there will give us cover to get right up on them without warning, and this isn’t one of the installations that used to be a Bajoran fort, so the walls aren’t as well fortified as some of the other camps we’ve hit.  They have to know that they’re a target, however, after all of the other camps, so be on your guard just in case this turns out to be a trap.”

 

She looked around, satisfied that everyone understood.  She didn’t want them relying on her vision of a victory here today.  They had to believe that they could do it but also be determined to put in the effort, otherwise it could all come crashing down around their ears.  And one victory for the occupation army was one victory too many.  That bastard Dukat would trumpet it about, play it up to be more than it was, and use it to raise his men’s morale.  But if they never won… if all they did was lose and bleed and die…

 

Eventually, they would give up.  Well, maybe not Dukat, but his superiors back in Cardassia.  There had to be a limit to how much of their own blood they were willing to see spilled on foreign land.  She – and the rest of the liberation army – just had to find it.


	4. Amnesia:Memories: Who Am I?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She doesn't remember anything of her life and the only for-sure ally she has is a strange incorporeal creature - provided she believes his stated motives. That's just...great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with the otome Amnesia: Memories.

“Look, I said I was sorry,” the strange creature protested, clearly pouting.  “I didn’t _mean_ to bump into your psychic space, become linked to you, and temporarily misplace your memories.  It just…happened.”

 

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.  It would help if she at least knew what her name was, but the search of what appeared to be her apartment room hadn’t turned up any sort of ID.  What she did know was that the strange creature – ‘Julian’ – did not appear to be a figment of her imagination.  Which meant that not only was she at least temporarily amnesiac, but she was stuck with a strange being attached to her and invisible to everyone else.

 

A loud pop song broke the apartment’s silence, and she scrambled for the cell phone she had left sitting on her desk, unable to remember how to unlock it.  Caller ID claimed the incoming call was from ‘Big Sis’.  She looked from the phone to Julian, uncertain.

 

“I don’t know that you should answer that,” he said.  “Just because it says ‘Big Sis’ doesn’t mean that this person is really your older sister.  It might be a joke, or someone you consider to be a big sister without being your blood sister –”

 

She answered the call.  Julian could say whatever he wanted about people taking advantage of her, but she would have to trust someone at some point.  “Hello?” she said into the receiver.

 

“Hello, Ezri,” a warm, female voice said.  _Ezri.  So that’s my name._   “I just wanted to make sure you were still going to pick up the cupcakes for Ben’s surprise party tonight.”

 

…

 

 _How do I answer?  What do I say?  What do I say?_ What do I say?

 

“Ezri?  Everything all right over there?”

 

“I… need some help,” Ezri admitted.  The name felt like it fit, at least.  It wasn’t hard to think of herself as Ezri.  But she had so many other questions now!

 

“What kind of help?” ‘Big Sis’ asked.

 

“Could you… could you come over to my apartment?  I don’t want to go into it over the phone.”  And if the other woman came over here, Ezri would get a better read on her.  Hopefully.

 

“I guess if you’re going to do it than in person is better,” Julian allowed.  “But are you sure she won’t take it wrong?  I mean, she’s not going to be able to see me.”

 

Ezri bit her tongue on a response to Julian.  At her ear, the other woman said, “I could make time.  It’s really that urgent?”

 

“Yes.  Please.”  Ezri tried not to stress either word, tried not to sound too desperate, but she didn’t really think she succeeded.

 

That suspicion was borne out when the woman on the other end of the phone said, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

 

“Thank you,” Ezri said, softly, willing sincerity into her voice.

 

“Of course.”

 

Ezri lowered the phone, stared at Julian.  “I’m not going to tell her about you.  I’ll tell her… I’ll tell her I hit my head.”

 

Julian nodded slowly, but then a thought clearly occurred to him.  “Are you even going to recognize what she looks like when she shows up?”


	5. Pokemon: Yates Pokemon Recovery Ranch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kasidy Yates runs the second branch of the Yates Pokemon Recovery Ranch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Pokemon (specifically at least the second gen, Gold/Silver/Crystal).
> 
> Not much going on in this one.
> 
> And, yes, only two chapters this week. I hope to get the final three for this work up next week on a MWF schedule. Note the word 'hope'.

Kasidy Yates shut the wood gate firmly behind her.  It wasn’t precisely there to keep the occupants of the outdoor enclosure inside, but she didn’t exactly want them getting out.  Not for any nefarious reasons, of course.  She wasn’t a member of Team Rocket.  It was because the Pokémon her ranch took in had been abused and needed special handling.

 

Many people had argued that it would be more humane to simply release them back into the wild, but Kasidy – like her parents before her, back in Kanto – thought that rehabilitation was a better route.  Helping the Pokémon recover and, hopefully, be able to one day return to interacting with humans had been her life’s work since she was old enough to help her parents.  When the land here in Johto had become available, she’d bought it up and built the ranch from the ground up, opening the second branch of the Yates Pokémon Recovery Ranch.

 

Flapping drew her attention to the sky, and she watched with a smile as a familiar Pidgeotto came in to land right in front of her.  Benjamin Sisko slid off the giant bird’s back and stood before her, one hand resting comfortably on his Pokémon’s neck.  “Hey, Kasidy.”

 

“Hey, Ben,” she said with a smile.  It had been about a week since Ben’s last trip through ??? Town, but she always missed him.  “How are things?”

 

“Great, actually,” Ben said, grinning.  “We had a pretty good trainer challenge the League.  I started to wonder if I was going to lose, actually, but my current team pulled through.”

 

“Congratulations,” Kasidy said, although without much surprise.  Ben changed his team up regularly, cycling through the many Pokémon he’d collected over the course of his career as a trainer, but he never took an unprepared Pokémon when discharging his duties as the current Pokémon Champion.  “Why don’t you come inside and we can have dinner while you tell me whatever you’re up to now that your official job has been taken care of?”

 

“And you can tell me about whichever Pokémon you’re currently hosting,” Ben said, firmly.  His interest wasn’t purely academic, either.  Often enough, Kasidy had used Ben – and his Pokémon, of course – to help with her rehabilitation efforts and he put in as much time volunteering on the ranch as he could between his other responsibilities and interests.

 

“Right this way,” Kasidy said, gesturing towards her house.


	6. Carmen Sandiego: Where in Time is Elim Garak?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A.C.M.E. agents Jadzia Dax and Julian Bashir report for a new - very unprecedented - assignment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with the video game series Carmen Sandiego. Specifically, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?, a personal favorite.
> 
> And yes, I maybe had a bit too much fun writing it, but that's better than NO fun.

Jadzia Dax, eighth-generation A.C.M.E. agent, tried not to fidget as she stood outside of the Chief’s office.  She wasn’t nervous, exactly, but she and her partner had only been back at the New Orleans base for exactly twelve hours, the _minimum_ turnaround time between missions.  That spoke of unusual urgency.

 

“It’ll be all right, Jadzia,” Julian said soothingly.  “We both know that the reward of a job well done –”

 

“– is a tougher job, as soon as they can throw you at it,” Jadzia finished, grinning.  “I know, I know!  But I wouldn’t have minded a bit more down time, especially with this guy I met before the Chief sent us haring off to Taipan –”

 

“I don’t want to hear about it!” Julian protested, hands coming up to cover his ears in case she continued anyways.

 

Jadzia laughed but didn’t press the details on him.  She’d save that for when she _really_ wanted to see him squirm.  _We might both be ‘free spirits’, especially when it comes to sex, but he’s a bit more prudish about_ sharing _stories._

 

The door opened, and Kira Nerys, the Chief’s terrifyingly competent ‘secretary’, waved them inside the office.  To Jadzia’s surprise, she stayed inside the room with them, taking the seat next to the Chief’s desk, leaving the two in front of it.  The Chief waved them into the chairs, and Jadzia frowned slightly.

 

Technically speaking, she wasn’t supposed to know anything about him.  No agent was.  But her uncle had been a mentor to _Agent_ Benjamin Sisko, and Jadzia had met him quite a few times in her youth.  Then he had been an energetic man with a lively sense of humor.  Now he looked exhausted, with pronounced bags under his eyes.  Even his uniform looked rumpled.  Whatever emergency had the Chief calling her and Julian in so soon after they got back from Taipan, it was _bad._

 

“I’m grateful for what you two pulled off in Taipan, and I wish I could give you longer to recover,” the Chief said without preamble, “but we have a major problem on our hands.  What I am about to tell the two of you is Top Secret, Burn Before Reading material.”  He sighed, rubbed at the bridge of his nose, and then planted his hands firmly on the desk.  “A group of scientists operating up in Canada have created a time travel device.”

 

Jadzia’s jaw dropped.

 

“Time travel?” Julian repeated, sounding breathless.  But then, he was a bit of a geek, fascinated by sci-fi.  Of course he was excited.  _All right, so I am, too.  But I can think of very few reasons for_ us _to being briefed about this, and none of them make me happy._

 

“That’s correct,” the Chief said.  “Unfortunately, V.I.L.E. apparently found out about this before us.  They sent one of their top agents, Elim Garak, to recover the device.  During the theft, he activated it.  He is now somewhen else.”

 

“Oh, shit,” Jadzia whispered.  She’d never heard of this ‘Elim Garak’ before, but that didn’t mean anything.  All she had to know was that he was a top V.I.L.E. agent.

 

“Luckily for us, the scientists in question had a second version of the time travel device – apparently they didn’t want to test the first one until they had a second so they could go get the guinea pig if something went wrong.  Nerys?”  He looked at his ‘secretary’.

 

She pulled a metal briefcase from under her chair and laid it on the desk.  With deft movements, she flipped the lid up and spun it to face the pair of agents.  Nestled inside was a heavy ‘watch’, with an absurdly large face.  “It’s a touch screen,” Kira said into the silence.  “And, before either of you ask, it can be configured to take the person wearing it and up to two other people who are both touching the person wearing it.”

 

“We don’t know where in time Garak went,” the Chief said into the stunned silence, and Jadzia and Julian turned back to face him.  “That means there will be some guessing involved.  However, we’ve come up with some leads.”  He pulled a folder out from under his hands and slid it across the table.  “I’d also like you to come back here at least once every two days to check in – and see if we’ve made any progress on this end – but I understand if that schedule slips.”

 

He paused, steepled his hands.  “I fully realize that this mission is completely outside of anything we ever even considered having to deal with, but, unfortunately, the future is now.”  He smiled thinly.  “So, Agent Dax, Agent Bashir.  Shall we get into the nuts and bolts?”


	7. Luminous Arc: A Discovery of Witches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you call a group of witches?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Luminous Arc.
> 
> Chapter title is the title of the first book in The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.

Ezri tried not to fidget as she waited in the chosen glade.  Would any of the others even come?  It was dangerous for them to travel in these days with the increasing anti-witch sentiments, but none of them looked like a stereotypical witch.  They were too smart to play into that.  Even if there really wasn’t such a thing as a stereotypical witch.  But, well, the point –

 

“Hey, Ezri.”

 

“Eeeeek!” Ezri jumped and spun, lamp pointed towards – oh.  “Jadzia!” she protested.

 

“Sorry,” Jadzia said.  “I thought you were paying attention.”  She reached out and pushed the lamp aside so it wasn’t pointing at her.  “Next time I guess I’ll make some more noise.”  She glanced around.  “I can’t believe we’re the first two here.  Nerys is the one who called for it.  Shouldn’t she have showed up first?”

 

“Nerys had further to travel than you two,” Nerys announced, jumping out of one of the trees, landing in an easy crouch.  She stood up and brushed herself off, looked at the two of them, and nodded.  “Good to see you, Jadzia, Ezri.”

 

“Hi, Nerys.  What’s this all about?” Jadzia asked.

 

Ezri winced.  She wanted to know, too, but Nerys would want to only share it once, after everyone had shown up.  And she wouldn’t appreciate being pushed about it until then.

 

“You could at least wait for the rest of us, Jadzia,” Keiko said, walking into the clearing.  “We’re only just now at fifty percent.”  She looked over at Nerys and added, “This had better be important, Nerys.  If I go missing for too long, people might start thinking things we don’t want them thinking about me.”

 

“Did you have to travel that far?” Ezri asked before Nerys could snap.

 

“Five days,” Keiko said.  “One way.”

 

Ezri winced.  That was a pretty good distance.  And with the way people were reverting to stricter class roles…

 

“It’s important,” Nerys said, flatly, arms crossed over her chest.  Ezri wondered if the Thunder Witch was going to start throwing off actual lightning sparks.

 

Crashing in the brush heralded the arrival of the Ember Witch.  “I hate forests,” Kasidy grumbled, barely loud enough for Ezri to hear.  And quiet enough to avoid Keiko’s notice, Ezri noted with a hint of genuine humor.  “Who are we still waiting for?” she asked, louder.

 

“Just Ziyal and Leeta,” Jadzia said.

 

“Sorry, sorry, we’re here,” Ziyal’s voice called, followed almost immediately by Ziyal herself, accompanied by Leeta.  “Sorry, everyone, we ran into some knights and had to talk fast.”

 

Ezri winced.  _At least they seem okay._

 

“You both all right?” Nerys asked.  Both witches nodded, and Nerys nodded back.  Then she scanned the rest of them, uncrossed her arms, and straightened up.  “All right.  Then let’s get down to business.  The anti-witch sentiments are a major problem, there’s no arguing with that.  It’s probably going to get worse before it gets better.  So we have some decisions to make.  Namely, how do we ensure the survival of witches in general, and what do we do with the lapistiers.”

 

Silence for a moment, and then most of the others started talking at once.  The babble was hard to sort, but it sounded like everyone had a different idea of what to do.  Ezri sighed.   _So much for an easy meeting._


	8. Devil Survivor: Day Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the second day of the New Orleans Lockdown, and the chances of survival are looking grim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fusion with Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor.

Two days since the lockdown of New Orleans had begun.  Ben Sisko wiped sweat off his brow and glanced over at his best friends, Jadzia Dax and Miles O’Brien.  “How much longer do you think they’ll keep us in here?” he asked, a bit rhetorically.  It wasn’t as if either of them had access to information he lacked.  But it would be nice to hear someone else’s guesses.

 

“At the rate this has been going…” Jadzia shrugged.  “Indefinitely, honestly.  Especially with these ‘demons’ popping up.  I mean, they can’t want them to get free, you know?”

 

“I wonder if they knew that was coming,” Miles said.  “It’s a good reason for why they were so quick to barricade so much of the city.  And I know we don’t know what’s happening outside, but I think we’d hear if demons were running amok out there.”  He stopped, wiped sweat out of his eyes, and shook his head.  “If only it wasn’t so hot!”

 

“I don’t like this,” Ben said, frowning.  “If we don’t get more water in here, people could start dropping from the heat, never mind the damn demons!”

 

“About dropping dead… Ben, are you sure you still haven’t seen anyone whose, ah, ‘death clock’ is higher than six?” Jadzia asked.

 

“No,” Ben admitted.  “Actually… today the highest number is five.”  He hadn’t wanted to tell them that, but there was no avoiding it.

 

“I really don’t like that,” Jadzia said.  Commotion across the street drew the trio’s attention to a group of orange-clad people moving around, distributing water bottles and what looked like food packets.  “And I don’t like _that_ , either,” she said with a frown.  “How did the Shomonkai get their hands on so many emergency rations, water bottles, and the like?  Did _they_ know this was coming?”

 

“That’s a reasonable explanation,” Miles agreed with a distrustful glare towards the Shomonkai members.

 

“Except that woman… what was her name, Kira?” Ben asked.  “She seemed to think everything would turn out all right.”

 

“Yes, but she’s clearly very religious,” Jadzia said slowly.  “I’m not saying that as a criticism, but we should be aware that her faith might have her believing in something that simply isn’t going to happen.”

 

_Fair enough.  On the other hand…_ “But if her religious group knew this was coming, maybe they really _do_ know something that will save us,” Ben pointed out.

 

“Are their numbers any different from ours?” Jadzia asked.

 

“Well… no,” Ben allowed.  “But that doesn’t mean it can’t change.  Our numbers changed yesterday,” he reminded her.

 

“Thanks to whatever creepy software your creepy cousin put in these COMPs,” Miles said.  When Ben and Jadzia gave him identical stares, he blustered, “I’m not saying I’m not grateful, but, come on, Ben!  Even you have to admit that that ‘daily report’ is creepy as all get out!  And that your cousin is creepy.”

 

There was no arguing with either of those facts.  However… “Speaking of yesterday’s daily report,” Ben said, opening his COMP.  Sure enough, another daily report waited for him.  After he finished reading it, he looked at his friends.  “I think we can survive, using these daily reports.  But, on top of that, I think we need to start investigating this whole thing.  We’ll talk to the Shomonkai – Kira seemed less crazy than some of her fellow believers, so if we can find her again, that would be ideal.  Maybe we can also find that reporter, what’s-his-name, Garak.  He might know something.  And there have to be more people here who have an idea about what’s going on.  Maybe we’ll even find Dukat and manage to shake some answers out of him.”

 

Ben didn’t have a lot of faith they’d manage that last.  His cousin was evasive and absent at the best of times.  _At least we_ know _he’s somewhere in this lockdown with us, thanks to me seeing him yesterday._

 

“All right,” Jadzia said, standing up.  “We should start by seeing if the Shomonkai is sharing their water and rations with people who aren’t converting or listening to their sermons.  We can start investigating from there.  But, Ben, let’s keep in mind that we still need to focus on learning how to use the demons these COMPs let us summon for protection.”

 

“Agreed,” Miles said.

 

“So we’ll set aside training time, too,” Ben said.  “Preferably where people can’t see us ‘working with demons’.”  His friends nodded soberly.  _And maybe, with a bit of luck, we’ll survive this after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter. Next part might not be up until December, depending on how NaNoWriMo goes.


End file.
